A Bradley County judge denied newly-re-elected Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd's motion to have his indictment charges dismissed.

Tuesday, June 5th 2018, 11:11 AM EDT by Tim Pham

Updated:

Wednesday, June 6th 2018, 5:28 AM EDT

A Bradley County judge denied newly-re-elected Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd's motion to have his indictment charges dismissed.

Boyd, who represents District 8, was indicted on extortion charges in April after a TBI investigation into an allegation that Boyd tried to force his opponent, East Ridge Mayor Brent Lambert, to withdraw from the race by threatening to release potentially damaging information about Lambert.

Bradley County Judge Andrew Freiberg, is overseeing the case after Hamilton County judges recused themselves from the case.

Defense attorney Lee Davis is representing Boyd. He argued, there was no extortion between Boyd and his then opponent Lambert.

Davis said in court the state has to show coercion was used and that Boyd's conversations were 'political speech,' which is protected.

However, Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston cited a few sections from the phone call transcripts that demonstrates coercion. Pinkston read a line from the transcripts where Boyd said to Lambert that he had information that would not be good him or his family.

A grand jury indicted Boyd on one count of extortion, a Class D felony. Boyd pleaded not guilty and was released on a $2,500 bond last month. If convicted, extortion carries a possible sentence of 2-12 years in prison.

Boyd's next court date is set for August 9th for a status hearing before the case goes to trial.